In the construction of oil or gas wells it is usually necessary to line the wellbore with a string of steel pipes commonly known as a “tubular” or tubing or generically as oil country tubular goods (“OCTG”). Because of the length of the tubular string required, individual sections of tubular are typically progressively added to the string in the wellbore as it is lowered into a well from a drilling rig or platform. The section to be added is restrained from falling in to the well by some tubular engagement means, typically a spider, and is lowered into the well to position the threaded pin of the tubular adjacent the threaded box of the tubular in the wellbore. The sections are then joined by relative rotation of the sections until such time as the desired total length has been achieved.
In one aspect, embodiments disclosed herein relate to a system for facilitating the connection of a first tubular to a second tubular used in the oil and gas exploration and extraction industries. The system includes a tubular handling device having a body having a profile shaped to accept a first tubular into a throat area and opposing scissor plates with overlapping tips, whereby each scissor plate rotates about a fixed axis and is actuated to open and close around the first tubular. The system further includes a tubular engagement apparatus having a first member comprising a plurality of indentations disposed in a surface of the first member, each indentation comprising an inclined surface relative to a longitudinal axis of the first member, a second member concentrically disposed relative to the first member, the second member comprising a plurality of openings, and a plurality of non-spherical rolling supports, each support disposed within an indentation of the first member, and each rolling support corresponding to an opening in the second member, wherein movement of the second member relative to the first member urges the rolling supports along the inclined surfaces of indentations of the first member.